Snap button and a die for assembling the same

ABSTRACT

A snap button includes a female snap member, a male snap member and a button body which is attachable to the female snap member through a sheet. The button body is provided with a leg that can be fixed to the female snap member by a clinching process. The button body is preferably fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of a horn of a bull, a nacre and a combination thereof.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention generally relates to snap buttons, and more particularly to (1) a snap button including a button body fabricated from a material having high fragility, (2) a method for joining such button body with a female snap member through a sheet member (e.g., a garment cloth), and (3) a die used in such joining method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Typically, snap buttons include a female snap member, a male snap member and a button body.

[0003]FIGS. 1A and 1B show a female snap member and a male snap member which are already known in the art. These snap members are of a spring type snap fastener in which an engagement between the male snap member 20 and the female snap member 10 is effectuated and maintained by the springs 14 of the female snap member 10.

[0004]FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a different type of female and male snap members which are known in the art. Theses snap members are of a ring type snap fastener in which an engagement between the male snap member 40 and the female snap member 30 is effectuated and maintained by a ring spring 32 of the female snap member 30.

[0005] A button body is typically provided for ornamental purposes and is attached to the female snap member 10, 30 with a cloth therebetween. The button body is oftentimes exposed to the outside of the garment in order to provide aesthetic enhancement that the female snap member normally made of metal cannot do. For this important role of increasing aesthetic beauty of the garment, there have been efforts to diversify the materials of which the button body is made into high-grade materials.

[0006] The material widely used for manufacturing the button body has low fragility such as a metal or plastic. This is because the clinching process for attaching the button body to the female snap member through the cloth of the garment tends to press the button body with a high impact force. In other words, the button body made of material having high fragility (e.g., horn or glass) becomes easily broken during the clinching process.

[0007] For the reason described above, it has been unfeasible, if not impossible, to manufacture the button body with a material having high fragility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] It is, therefore, an objective of the present invention to provide a snap button including a button body which is fabricated from a material having high fragility.

[0009] It is another objective of the present invention to provide a method for joining such button body with a female snap member through a sheet member (e.g., a garment cloth) without breaking the button body.

[0010] It is another objective of the present invention to provide a die used in such joining method.

[0011] In view of the foregoing objectives, there is provided a snap button including a female snap member, a male snap member and a button body. The button body is designed to be attached to the female snap member through a sheet. More specifically, the button body has a leg that can be fixed to the female snap member by a clinching process and is fabricated from a material selected from a group consisting of a horn of a bull, a nacre and a combination thereof.

[0012] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for joining a button body having a leg to a female snap member with a sheet placed therebetween. Such method comprises the steps of: a) providing a die having a button support that has a side wall, a bottom surface and a protrusion protruding from a center of the bottom surface; b) providing a punch adapted to reciprocate, the punch having a recess facing the button support of the die; c) positioning the button body within the button support with an end of the leg facing the punch, wherein the side wall restricts the horizontal movement of the button body; d) positioning the female snap member in the recess of the punch; e) positioning the sheet between the die and the punch; and f) pressing the leg of the button body with the punch for a clinching process for joining the button body to the female snap member.

[0013] In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a die for use in a clinching process for joining a button body having a leg to a female snap member with a sheet disposed therebetween and comprising: a button support having a side wall for preventing horizontal movements of the button body, a bottom surface and a protrusion protruding from a center of the bottom surface.

[0014] The above and other objectives and features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0015] These drawings depict only typical embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, they are not to be considered as limitations of its scope. The present invention will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings:

[0016]FIGS. 1A and 11B illustrate prior art female and male snap members which are of a spring type snap fastener;

[0017]FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate prior art female and male snap members which are of a ring type snap fastener;

[0018]FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of a button body constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of the button body shown in FIG. 3A and illustrating its attachment to the female snap member with a cloth placed therebetween;

[0020]FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a clinching process of the button body and the female snap member shown in FIG. 3B, wherein a die and a punch are shown in the cross-sectional view;

[0021]FIG. 5 is a top planar view of the die shown in FIG. 4 and illustrating its use in the clinching process between the button body and the female snap member; and

[0022]FIG. 6 is a side view of a clinching device constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention and illustrating the die and the punch shown in FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0023] The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] The snap button of the present invention includes a male snap member, a female snap member and a button body.

[0025] Various known male or female snap members, including those shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A, are available for the inventive snap button. Therefore, detailed description about the male and female snap members will be omitted and the female snap member of FIGS. 1A and 2A and the male snap member of FIGS. 1B and 2B will be referred in description of the present invention.

[0026]FIG. 3A shows the preferred embodiments of the button body. The button body 50 includes a main body 52, a leg 54 with a flange 53 and an adhesive layer 56. The main body 52 has a recess 58 on one of its surfaces. The leg 54 can be joined to the female snap members 10 or 30, including ones as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A. The adhesive layer 56 joins the flange 53 of the leg 54 to a bottom surface of the recess 58.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 3B, the button body 50 is attached to the female snap member 10 through a sheet 8 (e.g., a cloth of the garment or vinyl).

[0028] In the preferred embodiment, the main body 52 is fabricated from horn. Horn is a natural material that can be obtained from animals like a bull, a water buffalo, a sheep, etc. As such, horn has a natural beauty and has been spotlighted as a material for the button of high-grade garment. In addition to the horn, nacre may be used as the material for the main body 52.

[0029] The leg 54 is made of metal and functions to join the button body 50 to the female snap member 10.

[0030] Referring to FIG. 3B, during connecting the button body 50 to the female snap member 10, the leg 54 is first inserted through a through hole 16 of the female snap member 10 and the sheet 8 and then is deformed by a clinching process.

[0031] The adhesive layer 56 bonds the leg 54 made of metal and the main body 52 made of horn. Preferably, the adhesive layer 56 is an epoxy resin.

[0032] As described above, the inventive button body 50 includes the main body 52 made of horn. Since the horn material has high fragility, the main body 52 is apt to be broken due to an impact force caused by the clinching process.

[0033] Hereunder, there is described a method for joining the button body made of such horn to the female snap members 10 through the sheet 8, by using a clinching device, without a breaking the main body 52.

[0034] Referring to FIG. 6, one exemplary clinching device is shown. This clinching device 100 has a punch 84 with a protrusion 88 a and a die 60. The female snap member 10 and the button body 50 are joined to each other through the clinching process of the leg 54 performed by the punch 84 and the die 60. Various known clinching devices, such as the one disclosed in Korean Utility Model Nos. 20-303788 and 1993-238 and incorporated herein by reference, can be used in the method of the present invention. Therefore, detailed description about that aspect will be omitted herein.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 4, the punch 80 vertically reciprocates to perform the clinching process by cooperating with the die 60 in the clinching device 100. The punch 80 includes a body 84, a recess 90 formed at a lower portion of the body 84 that accommodates a plate 12 of the female snap member 10, a pillar member 88 protruding from the recess 90, a thread 82 for an engagement between the punch 80 and the clinching device 100. The protrusion 88 a for pressing an end of the leg 54 of the button body 50 is formed on an end of the pillar member 88. The end of the leg 54 is bent down toward the portions of the female snap member 12 around the though hole 16. The recess 90 has a diameter sufficient enough to accommodate the plate 12 of the female snap member 10 in a slight press-fit manner therebetween. This is so that the female snap member 10 can be kept together with the moving punch 80 once it is inserted into the recess 90.

[0036] The die 60 on which the button body 50 is seated has a button support 68. The button support 68 is designed to prevent the main body 52 from being broken during the clinching process of the leg 54. The button support 68 includes a sidewall 70 for preventing the main body 52 from being moved horizontally, a bottom surface 64 and a protrusion 66 protruding from the center of the bottom surface 68.

[0037] The protrusion 66 has a support surface 63 and an inclined surface 72. The support surface 63 comes into contact with the main body 52.

[0038] Although the support surface 63 is depicted as a horizontal plane in FIG. 5, the profile of the support surface 63 can be changed to comply with the shape of the main body 52. For example, in case that the lower surface of the main body 52 is convex, the profile of the support surface 63 takes a concave surface. Furthermore, in case that the lower surface of the main body 52 is concave, the support surface 63 takes a convex surface.

[0039] The support surface 63 has a cross sectional area smaller than the main body 52. Only a portion of the main body 52 contacted to the protrusion is pressed in the clinching process. The button support 68 has a diameter sufficient enough to accommodate the main body 52.

[0040] The clinching process will be described hereunder.

[0041] The female snap member 10 is first inserted and maintained in the recess 90 of the punch 80. Next, the button body 50 is rested on the support surface 63 of the die 60. Then, the sheet 8 is positioned between the die 60 and the punch 80.

[0042] After that, the punch 80 is rapidly lowered toward the die 60. At the moment, the protrusion 88 a clinches the leg 54 through the sheet 8.

[0043] Although the clinching process is described to exemplify the spring type snap fastener, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is applicable to the ring type snap fastener.

[0044] The present invention provides a snap button with a button body made of material that has not been used as the material for the button body due to its high fragility.

[0045] In this regard, the present invention provides a method for joining the button body made of such high fragility material to the female snap members through the sheet without breaking the button body. Further, the present invention provides a die that can be used in the method.

[0046] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative, and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A snap button including a female snap member, a male snap member, and a button body attachable to the female snap member through a sheet, characterized in that: the button body comprising a leg sized and configured to be fixed to the female snap member by a clinching process, the button body being fabricated from a material selected from the group consisting of a horn of a bull, a nacre and a combination thereof.
 2. A method for joining a button body having a leg to a female snap member with a sheet therebetween, comprising the steps of: a) providing a die having a button support that has a side wall, a bottom surface and a protrusion protruding from a center of the bottom surface; b) providing a punch adapted to reciprocate, the punch having a recess facing to the button support of the die; c) positioning the button body within the button support with an end of the leg facing the punch, wherein the side wall restricts the horizontal movement of the button body; d) positioning the female snap member in the recess of the punch; e) positioning the sheet between the die and the punch; and f) pressing the leg of the button body with the punch for a clinching process for joining the button body to the female snap member.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the button body is made of a horn of bull.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the female snap member is of a spring type snap fastener.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the female snap member is of a ring type snap fastener.
 6. The method of claim 2, wherein the protrusion of the button support has a support surface at top thereof that comes into contact with the button body.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the support surface has a profile complying with the shape of the button body.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the support surface and the button body contacted thereto define a horizontal plane.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein a cross sectional area of the support surface is smaller than a cross sectional area of the button body.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein only a portion of the button body contacted to the protrusion is pressed in the step (f).
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein the button body is made of a material selected from a group consisting of a horn of a bull and a nacre.
 12. A die for use in a clinching process for joining a button body having a leg to a female snap member with a sheet therebetween, comprising: a button support having a sidewall for preventing horizontal movements of the button body, a bottom surface and a protrusion protruding from a center of the bottom surface.
 13. The die of claim 12, wherein the button support has a cylindrical shape. 